Trade balance also came in shy of expectations, widening to $27.1
billion.

This compares with a 1% rise in exports and 0.3% fall in imports
in May.

Export growth was expected to stay muted because of a weak global
economic environment, and the government crackdown on speculative
Forex inflows. Meanwhile, domestic demand is expected to have
weighed on import data.

"While trade data could be helped by the low base from a year
ago, we believe the ongoing efforts by SAFE and General Customs
to contain currency carry trade will likely weigh on reported
growth rates," writes Morgan Stanley's Helen Qiao.